Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Several years ago, I broke from my clerical function here on this blog and mentioned the termination of Ann Curry.

I've met Ann, I've worked with NBC for nearly 20 years, and I've been on-set at the Today Show. My cousin was in the Green Room of the Today Show, waiting to be introduced, on September 11, 2001.. other coverage from Manhattan filled his slot. But several women have foreshadowed what just happened. Now, NBC, don't ruin this by giving the show to Megyn Kelly. We're no longer in the age of Bill Bolster.

Going back even further, as the Arbitron AE tasked with competing with Nielsen, I worked with Bill Bolster in the 80's, when he was GM of KSDK-TV, before he went to CNBC and spotted a young local anchor named Matt Lauer. They got along famously.

I never liked Bill Bolster*. I never liked Matt Lauer. Egotesticles, both.

.*Bill was a loud man, fueled by the infamously large wet bar inside his GM office in St. Louis. (Come to think of it, Bill liked guarded, closed office doors, too.)

But at the time, compared to Barry Baker of River City, he was the lesser evil. Frequently barefoot Alan Cohen was a kindred spirit and a challenging customer at KMOV. "ScanAmerica" made St. Louis a fascinating territory.

*My own opinion. Not those of anyone else, including any clients of mine.

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

We've made it to our first Thanksgiving with Donald Trump as President.

I'm grateful I'm able to help a segment of America's NBC TV stations honestly and accurately forecast the size and type of future audiences for each of their stations' programs.

On May 13, 1968 at the FCC's Chicago Federal Building, I
passed written tests and earned my 3rd Class Radiotelephone License. I
was 14. As documented by The Selling Of The President, TV ads helped Richard Nixon take the White House several months later. I've been studying political advertising and media manipulation ever since.

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